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Author: Hao Yalu
2020-06-22 17:00
Last update date: 2020-06-22 17:00The National People's Congress Legal Work Committee's explanation and main content of the "Draft" of the "Minato City National Security Law" was released last Saturday (June 20). The most controversial action of all parties can be described as the establishment of the "National Security Agency" in Hong Kong. This means that the Central Government will set up a "fourth institution" in Hong Kong after the Liaison Office of the Central Committee, the troops stationed in Hong Kong, and the Office of the Special Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong. What are the levels and roles of the National Security Office and what role will they play? What is the difference between it and the "Hong Kong National Security Council" established in the "Draft"? The same is the special zone. Why is there only the National Security Council and no National Security Agency in Macau? From the explanation of the "Draft", the National Security Office is fully authorized by the central government and has the responsibility of supervising and guiding the work of the Hong Kong National Security Council.
As soon as the draft notes were released, the interpretation of the parties focused on the setting of the National Security Office. It can be seen from the content of the establishment of the National Security Committee within the Hong Kong Government mentioned in the note that in the Central Government’s conception, the future of Hong Kong’s national security affairs will be the overall co-ordination of the Hong Kong National Security Committee composed of the main officials of the Hong Kong Government; the Hong Kong Police Force The internally established national security department acts as a law enforcement force, and the Department of Justice has a special department responsible for prosecution. The National Security Agency, as the representative office of the central government in Hong Kong, is responsible for the coordination of central and Hong Kong national security affairs, and supervises and guides the national security affairs of Hong Kong. The three together constitute Hong Kong's organizational system for safeguarding national security.
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If the level is "high", it will match the Liaison Office
After the reunification in 1997, as a manifestation of the central government’s right to govern in Hong Kong, the central government established three directly-affiliated agencies in Hong Kong, namely the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong (the Central Liaison Office), the People’s Liberation Army Garrison in Hong Kong, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Special Representative in Hong Kong. Public Office (Diplomatic Office). The three are responsible for their respective duties. The Liaison Office is responsible for liaison between the Central Government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; the garrison troops are responsible for the defense of Hong Kong; the Foreign Affairs Office represents the Central Government and is responsible for handling diplomatic affairs between Hong Kong and foreign governments and international organizations.
The anti-revision law storm that broke out in 2019 proves that none of the above three agencies can independently and completely prevent and stop acts that endanger China's national security in Hong Kong. This also made Beijing painful, and decided to set up the National Security Agency as the fourth stationed agency of the central government. The original intention was to protect the landing of the "National Security Act of the Port Area" in Hong Kong.
What kind of institution and administrative level the National Security Agency will have, can be compared with the Central Liaison Office and the Foreign Affairs Office. In terms of type of organization, the Central Liaison Office is an agency of the State Council and a department at the ministerial level. The Diplomatic Office has a lower rank and is an agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is a deputy ministerial department. Therefore, the National Security Office has two possible configurations. "High-profile" refers to the Central Liaison Office. It is also the Hong Kong agency of the State Council and reports directly to the central government. "Low-profile" refers to the Foreign Affairs Office, which is sent by the central department in charge of Hong Kong's Guoan as a deputy ministerial department. Regardless of whether it is "high-profile" or "low-profile," the National Security Agency belongs to the central government's dispatched department and exercises national security authority in Hong Kong on behalf of the central government.
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Similarities and differences between the National Security Council and the National Security Agency
It is worth noting that the "Draft" of the National Security Law also stipulates the establishment of the Hong Kong National Security Council. How is this different from the National Security Office? First of all, the National Security Council of Hong Kong is similar to the National Security Agency in Hong Kong in that both of its main responsibilities are national security affairs, and both have the mission to analyze and judge the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to maintain the national security situation.
Let me first talk about the National Security Council. In consideration of national security, the Central Committee began preparations for the establishment of the "National Security Committee" in 2014. It is directly under the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and is responsible for national security work, in order to "improve the national security system and national security strategy. To ensure national security." Subsequently, various local provinces in China established the "Local National Security Committee" with the provincial party secretary as the director.
Macao, which is also a special administrative region like Hong Kong, also established the "Macao Special Administrative Region Maintenance National Security Committee" in 2018, with the Chief Executive and the Secretary for Security as the chairman and deputy chairman, the Chief of Administrative Law, the Chief Police Officer, the Chief Executive Office The director is also a member. The Macao National Security Commission is responsible for coordinating and coordinating government departments to promote supporting legislation to maintain national security, promote law enforcement, and publicize and educate. However, the Central People's Government did not establish a National Security Agency in Macau. The reason for this is that Article 23 of the Basic Law has been delayed from obtaining legislation in Hong Kong, forcing the National People's Congress to directly enact the "Hong Kong District National Security Law" for promulgation and implementation by the Hong Kong SAR Government.
Judging from the establishment of the "National Security Law in the Minato District," Beijing's original intention was not to deprive Hong Kong of its legislative and judicial powers within the scope of the Basic Law, but to prevent Hong Kong from becoming a "loophole" in China's national security system. If Hong Kong can establish the National Security Council like Macau and complete the constitutional responsibility of 23 legislations as soon as possible, it is likely that the National Security Office in Hong Kong will not need to be established.
At that time, 23 legislations were filled with political prejudice as soon as they started. The picture shows the public sitting around the Legislative Council sitting quietly. (Profile picture/Getty Images)
Three major differences between functions and the National Security Council
The biggest difference between the Hong Kong National Security Council and the National Security Agency is the functional level. The "Draft" of the "National Security Law of the Hong Kong District" makes it clear that the Hong Kong National Security Council is the "decision-making body" of Hong Kong National Security and "co-ordinates" the national security affairs of the SAR. In addition to the fact that the members are basically composed of government officials like the Macao National Security Council, their responsibilities also include analyzing and judging the national security situation in Hong Kong, formulating national security policies, advancing the establishment of legal systems and enforcement mechanisms for the SAR to safeguard national security, and coordinating key national security work and major actions. It is worth noting that the article "Promoting the Construction of the Special Security System of the Special Administrative Region of the Special Administrative Region" shows that Article 23 of the Basic Law will not be abolished by the promulgation of the "National Security Law of the Port Area". Instead, the Central Government will empower the Hong Kong National Security Council with the Hong Kong Government. The “two horses, two brands” organization promotes legislation justly.
In the "Draft", the National Security Office, as the "delegation agency" of the central government, has four functions: analyze and judge the situation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in safeguarding national security, and provide opinions and suggestions on major strategies and important policies for safeguarding national security; supervision, guidance, Coordinate and support the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in performing its duties of maintaining national security; collect and analyze national security intelligence information; and handle crimes against national security according to law.
Among them, apart from "analysing and judging the situation of safeguarding national security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" and the National Security Council of Hong Kong, the remaining points are different from the National Security Council of Hong Kong.
One of the functional differences is "opinions and suggestions", that is, the National Security Agency provides "staff" to the strategic policies of the central government, the Hong Kong government and the National Security Council of Hong Kong, and at the same time collects and analyzes national security intelligence information. The "third channel" reflecting the national security situation in Hong Kong.
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The second difference is to "supervise, guide, and coordinate" the Hong Kong government's duty to maintain national security, and play the role of "supervisor." The third difference is that the National Security Office is not just reckless, it is also pragmatic at the critical moment. Although the "Note" emphasizes "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong", most of the execution, prosecution and trial of cases are still handled locally in Hong Kong, but the Office still has the power to directly Handle cases.
It can be seen from the comparison that under the general principle of "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong", the main body of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to safeguard national security is still the Hong Kong government. The role of the National Security Agency is based on the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong. Although the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong is the central agency stationed in Hong Kong to handle foreign affairs, usually Hong Kong's entry and exit, visa approval, and foreign trade are handled by local institutions in Hong Kong. For the same reason, Hong Kong's local security work is basically still carried out by local law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong, especially the national security department established within the Hong Kong Police Force is responsible for law enforcement.
Finally, the "Draft" notes also mentioned that the Hong Kong National Security Council will "establish a national security adviser, appointed by the Central People's Government, to provide advice on matters related to the performance of the duties of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's National Security Committee", speculating from the current situation It is highly likely that the head of the National Security Office will also serve as a consultant in the Hong Kong National Security Council.
On May 24, 2020, the demonstrators were arrested by the police in Causeway Bay. (Profile picture/AFP)
Perform real power under "specific circumstances"
As mentioned in the "Draft" note, the intention of Beijing to set up the National Security Agency is to "avoid the possibility of causing or leading to a state of emergency under Article 18, paragraph 4 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region"-that is, to avoid occurrences in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region A situation in which the Hong Kong government cannot control a state of emergency that has endangered national unity or security.
Therefore, as stated above, the National Security Office must not blindly have only virtual power but no real power. The "Draft" also stipulates that it does not exclude that under certain circumstances, the National Security Agency will exercise jurisdiction over crimes against the national security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
What is this particular situation? It is preliminarily inferred that there may be two situations. The first is that it occurs in Hong Kong. In addition to Hong Kong independence, other situations that endanger national security, such as Taiwan independence, Xinjiang independence, Tibetan independence, and other spy acts and terrorist acts. In particular, the severity has exceeded the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong Government and the Hong Kong Police Force. For example, collusion with spies and terrorists in the Mainland requires the National Security Office to coordinate with the Mainland’s national security department to jointly prevent threats to national security.
There is another possibility that the severity of the national security threats in Hong Kong has exceeded the capabilities of the Hong Kong government and the police force. It is difficult for the local law enforcement forces in Hong Kong to respond. The National Security Office will exercise jurisdiction over such cases. Although the possibility of such a situation is extremely small, in view of the events in Hong Kong in the past few years, the central government needs to leave room for interpretation in the "Draft" to prevent special situations.
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【The National Security Act of Minato City】 Dismantling two major questions: How to appoint a judge? How do people stationed in Hong Kong abide by the law?
【Minato-guchi National Security Law】Hong Kong is responsible for law enforcement and interrogation to reflect the differences between the two systems
【National Security Law of Minato City】The central government "sets a knife" Mutual trust becomes the key
Hong Kong version of the National Security Law. In-depth | The "National Security Council" in Hong Kong and Macau is very different-the scope is wider and the functions are narrower?
The above excerpt is from the 219th issue of "Hong Kong 01" Weekly Report (June 22, 2020) "Interpretation of the functions of the National Security Office, the fourth institution to be established in Hong Kong."
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Hong Kong version of National Security Law 01 Weekly Article 23 of the Basic Law of One Country, Two Systems
